The Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday it would be testing big banks against heightened stress in commercial and residential real estate markets as part of the U.S. central bank's annual stress tests.

THE US Federal Reserve released hypothetical scenarios for its annual stress tests, which seek to evaluate the resilience of big banks and ensure they can keep lending even in a severe recession. Read more at The Business Times.

Coming out of last year’s stress tests, several banks maintained beefed-up stress-capital buffers, which typically diverts money away from stock buybacks and dividends that bene